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Category Archives: China

14 Hours in Hong Kong: Protests, Dim Sum & Giant Buddhas

12 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by in Asia, China, Hong Kong

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This is post twelve of twelve on our autumn trip to South Korea. Check out the other posts in this series here:

Mrs. Selfish and I left Busan on a flight bound for Hong Kong at 8 in the morning. While there is typically an afternoon flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco, it was completely booked, so we found ourselves with just a little over 14 hours in Hong Kong.

I love Hong Kong, but the city was on high alert over the ongoing battle between democratic protesters and the local government, who had tear-gassed and beaten demonstrators on several occasions. Not a good place to visit with a 6-month pregnant wife.

With that in mind, we decided to check out some of Hong Kong’s other sites, specifically the Tian Tan Buddha, which we had missed seeing on our last 3 trips to Hong Kong.

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Lounge Deathmatch: Turkish Airlines vs. Cathay Pacific

22 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Istanbul

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This is the final post out of eleven posts on Istanbul. Check out our other posts here:

Ever since we got into the miles and points game, Mrs. Selfish and I have made it a personal goal to cash in all of our miles and points for experiences we would never pay cash for. Like staying in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora or flying Lufthansa first class home from Europe.

While these redemptions have been pretty awesome, we usually get the most value for our miles flying international business class. While your average international flight is expensive – international business class is ridiculously expensive.

Like $3000 one way expensive, if you’re doing it right. And while the flights themselves tend to be great, one side benefit of flying business that we rarely talk about here at the Selfish Years is the lounges.

In the States, airline lounges mean free wifi, edible food, a moderately clean bathroom, free(ish) booze, and a room packed to 70% of capacity. Outside of the States, however, it’s a whole other story.

Let me show you by comparing my two favorite business class lounges, the Turkish Airlines flagship lounge in Istanbul and Cathay Pacific’s “The Wing” in Hong Kong.

Decor & Features

Most international business class lounges are pretty similar. They tend to be swankily decorated. There’s free wifi. There’s usually a showering facility filled with amenities like shampoo, lotion, and tooth paste. There are often free magazines, computer stations, and TVs playing movies.

Lounge Deathmatch 001

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Enjoying Afternoon Tea at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

04 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong

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The last time Mr. Selfish and I were in Hong Kong, we attempted to go to afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong in Kowloon, which is the 2nd tallest hotel in the world. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it because we didn’t have a reservation and it was a Saturday. This time around, we reserved window seats for afternoon tea.

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Hungry and Jetlagged in Hong Kong

03 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong

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Mr. Selfish and I spent only 36 hours in Hong Kong, and it was a whirlwind of food and lights. We ate dim sum twice and had peking duck once since Mr. Selfish was seriously craving both.

Of course, we went back to Tim Ho Wan for the baked pork buns. They are Mr. Selfish’s favorite, and we haven’t found any better in SF lately.

HK Food 01

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36 Hours in Hong Kong: The Intercontinental Hong Kong

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, China, IHG

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Mrs. Selfish and I arrived bleary-eyed and jetlagged at the Hong Kong International Airport at 6:30am, from our 11:30pm flight from San Francisco. After hitting the showers and grabbing a cup of coffee in Cathay Pacific’s Arrival lounge we jumped in the closest cab and headed straight to our first stop, the Intercontinental Hong Kong.

Getting there and Check-in

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The Intercontinental Hong Kong is located right off of the Avenue of the Stars and is pretty easy to get to. If you’re low on bags and traveling by yourself, I recommend taking the express train into town and taking a cab from there, which should run you close to $120 HKD total.

If you’re traveling in groups of two or more, a cab is probably more economical (and definitely faster), and should run you closer to $230 HKD ($30 USD). From memory, it took us around 20–25 minutes to get to the  Intercontinental, since there was relatively little traffic around 7:30am.

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The check-in process was smooth and quick, since I had already arranged everything via email ahead of time. We opted to book an award night for 40,000 IHG points a night instead of paying the ~$400 it would have cost. As an Ambassador member, Mrs. Selfish was granted late check-out, and two drink coupons for the bar.

Intercontinental is pretty stingy when it comes to perks, and doesn’t guarantee their Ambassador members much of anything. They are supposed to upgrade members to a better room upon check-in, but in this case we would have been upgraded to a deluxe room with a view of the Sheraton. Instead, we opted to pay to upgrade to a Superior Harbor View room for an additional $1,200 HKD a night (+10% tax), since the harbor view was the whole reason we chose to stay at the Intercontinental. Otherwise I probably would have chosen the Conrad HK, or the JW Marriott again.

Hong Kong 004

Amazing skyline views of Hong Kong from the lobby.

Impressively, our room was ready at 8 in the morning, so Mrs. Selfish and I headed to our home for the next 36 hours.

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Back on the Road: An Introduction

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, China, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Japan, Marriott

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Mrs. Selfish and I have been living in San Francisco for the last few months, exploring the city and the Bay Area. Well, “living”, might be more accurate.

While we’re physically in San Francisco, most of our stuff is still in a pod somewhere in Orlando, Florida, so we’re still living out of suitcases. Normally, I’d view this as a disadvantage, but after traveling for a year I’ve become pretty accustomed to the lifestyle. It’s nice to be able to leave and hop on a plane at the drop of a hat.

So it was with much anticipation, that Mrs. Selfish and I started our annual Thanksgiving trip. This year we decided to visit the Maldives, and Okinawa, Japan, stopping by Hong Kong, Fukuoka, and Tokyo along the way. An odd routing, to be sure, but we were in pursuit of an elusive beast.

The whale shark.

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More on this guy, in a few posts.

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Have a Merry and Selfish Christmas!

25 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Beijing, China, General

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Mr. Selfish and I wish our readers a merry and selfish Christmas! May you indulge all of your wanderlust desires next year. We know that we certainly will…

Happy Xmas

Come the new year, we will commence blogging every day until we’ve covered our recent trip to Hong Kong, the Maldives, and Japan. We look forward to sharing with you our trip report and the many, many photos we took.

The Selfish Guides to Asia are Finally Complete!

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Asia, China, General, Japan, South Korea

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It took me a while but I’ve finally completed the Selfish Guides to Seoul, China, and Japan, which completes the rest of Asia. Considering that Mr. Selfish and I spent 33 days in China and 43 days in Japan, I don’t think that it was that long. Okay, so we did leave Asia about four months ago. I promise that I’ll finish the Selfish Guides to Australia, New Zealand, and Bora Bora in a much shorter time.

Here are a few pics from the new Selfish Guides:

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If you would like to see the Selfish Guides in their entirety, please click here.

I Need a Vacation!

27 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, China, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Japan, Marriott

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When we first started traveling abroad, I figured our year long wanderings would end one of two ways:

1) After traveling for a year we’d be so sick of it, that we’d immediately settle somewhere and never leave.

2) Our travel obsession would get worse and we’d have problems staying anywhere for longer than a month.

Unfortunately, it looks like it’s #2.

Mrs. Selfish and I have been settling into San Francisco for two weeks now, and I’m already starting to get antsy. While it’s nice to have a slightly more permanent home (at least for the next few months), I miss the call of the open road.

Fortunately, I anticipated this outcome and booked a new trip back in July. Come late November, we’re heading to the Maldives and Okinawa for scuba diving, by way of Hong Kong and Fukuoka, Japan!

The Maldives

Let’s see if the Maldives is everything it’s cracked up to be!

Okinawa

Okinawa, Japan’s Winter Paradise.

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Greatest Wall Ever!

16 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Beijing, China

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While planning our trip to China, Mrs. Selfish and I determined that a trip to the Great Wall was mandatory.  I mean, how could you go to China and not visit the Great Wall, especially if you’re staying in Beijing?

After a little research we discovered that there are numerous sections of the Great Wall ripe for visiting, all in various states of disrepair.  From Datong we could have visited a dilapidated section of the wall – it’s bricks stolen by local farmers to use as building materials – but the more famous sections are near Beijing.

The Great Wall is big business for the Chinese government, so sections near Beijing have been restored to match what they would have looked like back in the day.  Instead of holding back throngs of Mongul hoards, however, many sections of the Wall now house throngs of Chinese tourists and hoards of Chinese merchants hawking crappy t-shirts and calendars.

With that in mind, Mrs. Selfish and I quickly settled on the Jingshanling section of the wall – and while we did spot a few hawkers, the wall was blissfully empty for the 6 hours we hiked its heights.

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Peking Duck Showdown in Beijing: Made in China v. Duck de Chine

15 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Beijing, China, Food & Drinks

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While doing yoga in Hoi An, Mr. Selfish and I ran into an American couple who were living in China. We immediately asked them for recommendations, and they told us that we had to go to Made in China for peking duck in Beijing. It turns out that Made in China is quite well known for its peking duck.

On our first night in Beijing, we headed to its location at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (1 Dong Chang’an Jie). Unfortunately, even though we had a reservation, the hostess informed us that there were no tables available and that we would have to wait. After wandering the lobby for a while, we returned and were given a table all the way in the back of the restaurant.

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Bouncing Around Beijing: Lama Temple, Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Beijing, China

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Mr. Selfish and I spent only four nights in Beijing, and it was barely enough time to see all of the sights we wanted to see. Beijing certainly has a lot to offer in terms of sightseeing (certainly more than Shanghai).

First, we visited the Lama Temple (aka Yonghe Temple), which is the only Tibetan temple or monastery we’ve ever visited. It is apparently one of the largest and most important Tibetan monasteries in the world. It was beautiful and had a different feel compared to other temples we’ve seen.

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Enjoying the Views of the Forbidden City in Beijing

12 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Beijing, China

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The first thing that Mr. Selfish and I did in Beijing was visit the Forbidden City. We had high expectations for the grandeur of the palace. Although we were there during the middle of a weekday, it was still packed with hoards of tour groups.

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JW Marriott Beijing – One Classy Category 4 Hotel!

11 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, Beijing, China, Marriott, Travel Hacking

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Redeeming for miles and points is a strange beast.  On the one hand, part of me (and I suspect part of many miles & points addicts) wants to redeem my points for the most expensive hotel I can get. On the other hand, another part of me wants to stretch my miles and points across as many days as possible since we’re in this for the long haul.

Sometimes there’s a happy intersection where a quality hotel, for whatever reason, is a complete steal at its current redemption rate.  The JW Marriott Beijing is one such hotel.

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The Other Sights Near and Around Datong

10 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, China

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The city of Datong itself is currently under massive renovation and improvement. Mr. Selfish and I had our driver look for an ATM to withdraw some yuan, and we had great difficulty finding one. Most of the large banks in China had already set up locations but the ATMs inside were not yet functional. As I’ve stated previously, Datong is slowly but surely setting itself up to be a big tourist destination.

The Hanging Monastery and the Yungang Grottoes are reasons alone enough to visit Datong. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the other attractions in Datong that notable.

First, the other primary attraction is the Yīngxiàn Wooden Pagoda, which is about a two-hour drive from the Hanging Monastery. Built in 1056, it is the oldest and tallest wooden structure in China. However, due to its age, you can’t climb the pagoda but can only visit the ground floor. The pagoda has a Buddhist temple behind it with some interesting looking statues. Mr. Selfish and I only spent about half an hour at the Yīngxiàn Wooden Pagoda, so I don’t think it was worth the two-hour drive or the 60 yuan per person admission.

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